The Grilling Gourmet

Vinegar is the secret ingredient of North Carolina Barbecue, particularly apple cider vinegar. Straight cider vinegar is used as a marinade, before cooking, as a baste during cooking and as a finishing sauce. The secret of using vinegar with barbecue is to give it time to work it's way into the meat so that you won't be left with a strong bitter flavor. The advantage to vinegar sauces is that you can add it in at anytime and the vinegar easily works into the meat. This allows you to add spices and have them sink into the meat giving it plenty of flavor.

Of course there is more to a good vinegar barbecue sauce than vinegar. North Carolina is divided on the issue of sauce. On the eastern side, vinegar is kept pure, particularly of those nasty tomatoes. However on the west side sauces are put together with a hint of tomato and sugar. Now while the purists will keep to these formulas others have taken to the additions of cayenne, brown sugar, molasses, red pepper, red pepper flakes, etc..

The vinegar used is usually apple cider vinegar, but plain white vinegar works as well. The advantage of vinegar in sauces is that it has an additional tenderizing effect that helps make barbecue pull apart perfect.

Now, like any other barbecue sauce it is best made in advance. You want to give the flavors time to mix. The vinegar will literally disolve most anything you add to it. If you add coarse ingredients like red pepper flakes you really need to give it a day or two to pull the flavors out into the vinegar.

Here are a couple of examples;

Piedmont Barbecue Sauce

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Preparation:

Mix thoroughly. Place in an airtight container and refrigerate for several days, allowing the flavors to blend.

Carolina Red